BELGRADE, August 02 (Tanjug) - The Serbian government at its Thursday session adopted decrees on the formation of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija, the Office for Human and Minority Rights, the Office for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities and the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region.It also passed a conclusion on the evacuation of Serbian nationals and their families from Syria.The government also adopted a decision on establishing the State Emergency Headquarters.It also decided to form a Human Resource Commission which will be headed by Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Zarko Obradovic.

DACIC: USD 1.5 MILLION FOR JEREMIC'S NEW YORK TERM

SREMSKA KAMENICA, August 02 (Tanjug) - Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said Thursday that Vuk Jeremic's chairmanship of the UN General Assembly would probably draw about USD 1.5 million from the Serbian budget.Dacic told journalists in the town of Sremska Kamenica near Novi Sad that the previous government planned to allocate USD 2.9 million for Jeremic's function until the end of 2012, but the sum to be approved for the entire term of his mission in New York will amount to about one and a half million dollars."Given the crisis that has befallen the country, we believe that the sum should be cut, but we are also aware that the function is very important when it comes to state interests," said the prime minister.To have an official from Serbia chair the UN General Assembly is very good for the country's foreign policy, Dacic said.It is sad, however, that Jeremic's mission had to suffer from internal conflicts in the Democratic Party (DS), which also damaged the interests of the state, he observed.According to Dacic, the issue of financing Jeremic's UN mandate should have been considered at the level of the ruling coalition, instead of launching a debate on the matter in the media, thus damaging Serbia's interests.

EC: DRAFT LAW JEOPARDIZES NBS INDEPENDENCE

BRUSSELS, August 03 (Tanjug) - The draft law on the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), which is to be adopted on Monday, has caused great concern in Brussels as it could jeopardize the institution's independence, Tanjug was told in the European Commission (EC).

SPECIAL FLIGHT TO EVACUATE SERBIANS FROM SYRIA

BELGRADE, August 03 (Tanjug) - A Jat Airways aircraft will evacuate a number of Serbian citizens from Syria Friday as growing violence is further aggravating the security situation in the country, the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs of Serbia has said in a release.The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Damascus informed the Serbian citizens about the plans for the evacuateion, which is jointly organized by the Interior and Foreign Ministries.A total of 43 people have signed up for the evacuation so far.Tanjug learned at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport that the aircraft carrying Serbian citizens from Syria should land in Belgrade at about 3 p.m. Friday.The special flight's departure for Syria was planned for 7 a.m. and its arrival back to Belgrade at 2.50 p.m. today, according to the sources at the airport.The ministries added that most of the Serbians and members of their families to be evacuated lived in Damascus.

CROATIA HAS UNSOLVED BORDER ISSUES WITH NEIGHBORS, ALSO WITH SERBIA

ZAGREB, August 02 (Tanjug) - Croatia has unsolved border issues with a majority of its neighbors as there has only been a temporary solution in this regard, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said at a government session Thursday, touching on the 1999 border agreement between former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnia-Herzegovina's (BiH) Alija Izetbegovic.We do not claim others' territory, but we also cannot claim something as ours until this has been determined through bilateral agreements, Milanovic said, stressing that the issue has not been dealt with actively enough over the last 20 years, leaving Croatia in border issues with Slovenia and BiH, but also with Montenegro and Serbia.Milanovic said that Croatia was not trying to blackmail its neighbors or to behave in a superior fashion to them, but only sought respect for international law.He said that Croatia had to take initiative when it came to border issues with its neighbors who are not EU members, but not by blackmailing those countries or playing games with them, because they were in a somewhat compromised position compared to Croatia.We are taking care of Croatia's interest, but we do respect our neighbors, Milanovic said.